


Out of Your Mind

by alphadick



Category: Spartacus Series (TV), Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Spartacus: Vengeance, Spartacus: War of the Damned
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Drinking, Everyone's alive because of reasons, F/M, Fraternities & Sororities, M/M, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-26 07:35:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1680056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphadick/pseuds/alphadick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nasir considers himself lucky that he's got such an awesome roommate. Him and Duro hit it off even before they meet in person. When his roomie starts inviting him to his brother's frat parties...it really doesn't take that much convincing for Nasir. The frat, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, nicknamed The Brotherhood or alternatively The Rebel Pack, has a history a mile long. Nasir's just wondering what he's gotten himself into when he starts flirting with Duro's attractive brother Agron.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Meeting the Brotherhood

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly because there should definitely be more College/University modern AUs in this fandom. You can't tell me that all the boys wouldn't be completely wicked to party with!  
> Everyone's alive because why the hell not! No one should have died, I love them too much, especially Duro!!!  
> Agron's got a mohawk and there is probably a lot of flirting and sexual innuendo with out the boys actually doing anything...this is kind of slow build.  
> I really hope you enjoy, comments and kudos are highly appreciated!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ:
> 
> If you had subscribed to this story when it was originally posted over the summer sometime I have since gone back and tweaked the two chapters that had already been posted. A few extra scenes have been added as well as dialogue and stuff to help flow and readability.  
> I want to take this moment to thank you guys for sticking with this. I apologize for not updating as I decided to transfer schools pretty last minute over the summer and have been preoccupied with my first semester at a new university.  
> I guess what I want to say is this story is not dead, merely renewed and continuing!

“So my brother’s in this fraternity and they’re throwing this party tomorrow as a school year opener. You should come with me, they throw the sickest parties,” Nasir’s known his roommate for about two months, only a week in person however. He’d connected with the guy on facebook and they’d messaged back and forth until school started. Duro has a brother who’s two years older than him and belongs to Sigma Alpha Epsilon, a fraternity notorious for wicked parties and the general ridiculousness that usually comes with a frat house. When it comes down to it, Nasir has nothing better to do on a Friday night and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to see the inside of the frat house.

“Okay, I’m in.” Duro doesn’t even look surprised that it barely took much convincing on his part. He merely throws an arm around Nasir’s shoulders and affectionately ruffles his hair. Nasir had learned pretty quickly that Duro was a tactile person, he’d apologized rather quickly blaming it on his family but Nasir doesn’t really mind. It’s nice in a way that Nasir hasn’t really had since his brother shipped off to Afghanistan, Adan keeps in contact any way he can but it’s not like the old days when his brother would pull him into a tight hug and end it with a playful noogie.

||

Duro gets them through the front door with a joking slap to the bouncer’s bulging chest. Absently, Nasir wonders if the bouncer will react badly, but then the dude’s laughing and catching Duro in a headlock. “You little shit, get the fuck inside before I change my mind,” but the guy’s words are teasing as he throws Duro further into the party. He just smiles at Nasir and lets him through.

“That’s Donar, him and my brother grew up together in the same neighborhood and let me tag along sometimes.” Duro’s got that fond reminiscent look on his face that Nasir knows he gets when anyone brings up Adan. Nasir smiles softly and pushes Duro in the direction of the makeshift bar. There’s another much larger man there but he also seems to know Duro and they yell at each other over the music in a friendly way. Duro gestures towards Nasir behind him and suddenly the smaller man is getting dragged forward. “Nasir this is Oenomaus,” Duro makes the introductions. Nasir is surprised when Oenomaus draws him into a quick hug, pounding him on the back with one arm.

“What would you two like?” He questions once he releases the boy, arms spreading over the vast assortment of liquors in front of him.

“Tequila,” Nasir blurts almost immediately, gesturing towards the bottle near the left side of the table. Duro barks with laughter and then agrees, wanting a shot or two…or three to do with his roommate. Nasir’s always loved tequila and it’s always loved him…Duro, not so much. After the third shot Duro coughs rather harshly, opting for something else that Oenomaus shoves into his hand with a chuckle. Nasir does another shot just for good effort and then takes a mixed drink of what he thinks is coke and rum.

Duro’s weaving through the dance floor obviously on a mission to find someone but Nasir just stops in the throng of it and starts dancing, that’s the curse of tequila on him it seems. It’s hot and sweaty and people are bumping into him. He lets himself dance with these two girls but when they try to pull him away he declines rather quickly. His taste runs more towards beards and dicks than boobs and mascara. Nasir turns back into the throng, finding more dancing partners easily enough whether they’re male or female he doesn’t care.

Duro wraps an arm around his shoulders and draws him in, distracting him from a guy trying to grind on him. “My brother should be around here somewhere, he’ll be the tall dude with the short Mohawk,” but Nasir only hears that Duro’s brother should be around here.

Nasir glances around absently, entirely too certain that in his drunken haze he won’t be able to spot some man who looks vaguely like Duro. He vaguely recognizes a few people from his classes, but it’s only been a week so remembering their faces let alone their names is going to be a task all in itself.

The alcohol is making him warm and Duro’s company is lifting his spirits. He knew even before meeting his roommate that they would be good friends. Even through facebook messenger Duro came off as quick witted and easy to laugh. He looked on the bright side of things and genuinely seemed interested in what Nasir was planning on doing while at university. He’s a good friend to have, a bond that will foster and grow as they both go through their first year of university.

||

Green eyes rest hotly on the dancefloor, gaze unwaveringly on the sight before him. He hadn’t seen him come in or who he was with at the time but now he’s dancing rather seductively to the music. Girls and guys have been trying to pull him away to some dark corner and have their way with him but he keeps declining in favor of losing himself in the music. He can’t keep his eyes off him. The sway of his hips has the larger man hot all over. Hot and distracted enough that he doesn’t hear a word Spartacus says next to him.

Spartacus follows the line of his gaze, face crinkling in laughter when he sees what has caught Agron’s affections. “So you gonna go talk to him or are you going to creepily watch from the wall the whole night?” Agron grunts lowly grimacing slightly when he sees another set of hands come to rest on the man’s slender hips.

“I’m just biding my time…” Agron growls at his best friend, not amused when Spartacus tries to hide his smirk behind the rim of his beer can. The larger man looks back to the dance floor and is surprised to find his brother coming up to wrap his arm around the man’s shoulders rather familiarly. Agron watches the way the man laughs at something Duro has said and feels his stomach twist painfully. Realistically, Agron knows his brother would tell him if he was dating. His fists clench, the beer can in his hand crunching in his grip. This is stupid he tells himself, he doesn’t even know the kid yet…but he wants to know him.

||

Duro’s joined him on the dance floor, plying him with alcohol and laughter, which only serves to make Nasir drunker and overly prone to fits of laughter. Faces start to blur in his memory as Duro introduces people he knows through his brother, but Nasir figures they can hardly blame him…parties aren’t the best place for meeting people for the first time. Well at least not after the alcohol has been flowing for a few hours or so.

He begs off, willing himself to find the bathroom so that he can take a leak, but instead winds up in the kitchen where a group of rowdy guys are shouting at each other. Nasir’s about to bow out, in fear of a brawl breaking out, but realizes only two voices are rising above the noise of the party. The rest of the group are laughing at the two on their behalf.

“I’m not in a good mood right now Crixus, don’t make me do something you’re going to regret,” one of the two men growls at the other.

“Come off it Agron, Crixus is simply teasing to get a rise out of you,” a short haired man comes between the two, placing a hand on each of their chests and pushing lightly. At the mere sound of his voice the two are drawing apart. Sure, teeth are still bared and they trade middle fingers, but no other harm is done.

“You should just let me punch him Spartacus,” Agron hisses, glaring at Crixus across the kitchen.

“Surprise surprise, we can actually agree on something. Punch me Agron, punch me so that I can kick your ass,” Crixus tries spurring him on but a beautiful dark haired girl pulls him away with a chuckle.

“Now boys, no need to come to blows at the first party of the year, we don’t want a repeat of Hell Week 2012.” Everyone finds that hilarious, apparently the events that happened during the rush week still live on two years later.

A hand wraps around his shoulders startling him out of his thoughts, eyes distractedly swaying between the group of people in the kitchen, “—I’d wondered where you went off to—oh. Hey guys!” Duro pulls Nasir into the room with him, smiling when that same group of people all turn to greet them.

“This is the gang, The Rebel Pack as many other fraternities like to call them. Led by their fearless rebel king, Spartacus,” Duro gestures to the short haired man who had kept Agron and Crixus from beating the shit out of each other.

“Nice to meet you,” Nasir says to not only Spartacus but everyone in the room. He holds out a hand to Spartacus and gets a solid handshake in return. 

“Who’s this Duro?” Agron sidles up and only then does Nasir’s brain start making connections. He blinks stupidly for a few seconds, alcohol clogging his normal brain functions. The man before him looks vaguely familiar, as in he has some of the same facial features as Duro. He’s standing rather stonily, face set in a grim line as he gazes between the two of them. Nasir feels a sweat start the break out as the large man’s eyes finally fall on him. If he wasn’t so damn attractive maybe Nasir would be able to act normally. He is not going to hit on his roommate’s brother, that just goes against good roommate code after all. Nasir tries to keep his drunk mouth from saying anything stupid.

“Aggy this is my roommate Nasir. Nasir this is my brother Agron, co-vice pres with Crixus over there. Sparty couldn’t choose,” Duro whispers the last part conspiratorially even though more than a few in the group over hear him and start chuckling.

“Oh, Duro’s been yapping all summer about meeting his roommate, you made quite an impression over messenger it seems,” Agron grunts teasingly, getting a punch in the ribs for his efforts from Duro. He seems to have released whatever tension had been plaguing him, body relaxing seemingly effortlessly before them. His eyes are warm on Nasir now, making the young man hot all over in a completely different way than before. Whatever, Nasir’s gay, he owns it, out and proud and he can’t deny that Agron’s pushing some of his buttons…okay, a lot of his buttons. Nasir wouldn’t mind Agron bending him over the nearest beer pong table and having his hot little way with him. Wait—those were the exact thoughts he was supposed to be stopping. Duro probably wouldn’t take too kindly to his roommate hitting on his brother.

“Shut it fuckface, I seem to remember you waxing poetic about Spartacus before the year was even through.” The words prompt Agron into action and the brothers start roughhousing in the kitchen. The battle’s won when Agron successfully pins Duro against the counter and starts tickling him relentlessly. Nasir starts chuckling when Duro turns around cursing his brother out and stalks from the kitchen to find more drink. 

Nasir’s eyes return to Agron who’s also still laughing, “Aw, I think you hurt his feelings.”

“Then I accomplished my task of embarrassing him for the day,” Agron jests, gesturing towards the fridge to see if Nasir wants a refill. He accepts, trading his empty solo cup for the proffered can. “Let me introduce the rest of the group since Duro ran out like the rude little shit he is.” Nasir proceeds to meet Crixus’ girlfriend Naevia—the beautiful dark haired girl from before—who he also realizes he shares a class with, Gannicus and Saxa—who are entirely too wrapped up in each other’s mouths to respond, and Sura—Spartacus’ fiancée.

Nasir finds conversation incredibly easy with Agron, who he winds up spending the rest of the party with. Despite his earlier hesitations Nasir feels like he can downplay the attraction he feels towards the man and eventually forget about it all together. They share stories from their childhood, stupid moments where they’d done a dumb stunt and gotten a broken bone in return. Agron was more prone to that it seemed, as Nasir hears him recount the different body parts that had come to harm through his years of life.

He’s pulling aside his tank top sleeve to show a large scar on his upper chest when Nasir realizes they’re standing incredibly close. Warmth is radiating between them, and Nasir finds himself a little breathless. So much for his plan, Nasir plans on blaming Agron for his ridiculously easy going demeanor and the ease with which he tends to get into other’s personal space. It must be a family thing, considering how Duro also has no sense of personal space. He’s not sure if the alcohol has anything to do with it but he finds himself leaning into Agron’s side, laughing at a joke Spartacus is sharing with them. Agron’s got his arm around him like it’s the most common thing to do, slapping him on the shoulder when something particularly funny passes between them.

“What’s this Hell Week story you guys keep referencing?” Nasir questions, eyeing the group surreptitiously. That gets everyone’s attention, bringing all of them into the conversation at that point. Even Crixus dons a smirk at the memory of such events.

“Who wants to tell it?” Gannicus voices, smirking when everyone shrugs good-naturedly.

“You’re the best story teller Gan, you tell it,” Sura speaks up, letting Spartacus wrap an arm around her shoulders and pull her into his side.

“Yeah?” When no one protests Gannicus smirks and rubs his hands together with glee. He’s perched on top of a counter with Saxa sprawled partially across his lap. “So, Spartacus and I are seniors now and Crixus and Agron are juniors. Two years ago they were rushing to be a part of this fraternity. And now we’ve got a bit of an image to uphold if you know what I mean. We’re all pretty tough guys, whether it’s brawn or wit or in this one guy’s case cock—“

“Hey! Segovax didn’t even make it into the brotherhood—“ Agron voices, shoving Gannicus. The side of his body rubbing past Nasir makes his neck flush with heat. Thankfully, if anyone asks he can blame it on the alcohol.

The man continues as if Agron hadn’t interrupted which prompts Nasir to laugh at Agron’s rolling eyes. He settles back against the counter, arm once again going around Nasir’s shoulders comfortably.

“—and so Agron and Crixus show up with these other sorry fucks. Let’s remember Sparty and I are just little sophomores so we don’t really have a say in the proceedings. It’s up to the senior brothers to decide who gets to become a part of our crew. Anway, these two shits show up and practically kill each other on the first day. They’re both laid up in the hospital with some broken bones and we’re thinking what the fuck did we get ourselves into? So, they get out the next day and they’re all set to go, never mind the fact that Agron’s got this fucking huge walking cast and boot on or that Crixus has his arm immobilized against his chest. No, they’re ready to go. So just imagine, we’re trying to scare the shit out of these freshman and these two look like they’ve had the shit kicked out of them already. The other freshmen were pissing themselves thinking up all these wild fantasies where we had punished them or something so they’re like freaking out. Meanwhile we’re just sitting back watching the shit show, laughing because the pledges are trying to be extra nice and all this shit. And that was just the beginning—“

“I’d like to point out that Crixus and I didn’t actually beat each other up that bad, we may have just fallen down a flight of stairs after punching each other in the face,” Agron says for the record, but he’s only looking at Nasir like it means everything that he understand they weren’t actually trying to kill each other. And Nasir believes him because even with all the testosterone and the show boating and the name calling, he can tell that the two of them would stand up for each other should they need it. It’s the brotherhood and all that.

“—yeah yeah shut your trap,” Crixus grunts, gesturing with his beer bottle for Gannicus to continue. 

“—as I was saying, that wasn’t even the beginning of the mayhem. So we quickly realize that we can’t have these two in the same fucking room as each other or they essentially come to blows over something or other. But they’re fucking good, like at everything. They’re out drinking the other pledges, out working, and we’re all just stunned that they haven’t killed each other. So it’s coming down to the last day of hell week and we’re gonna have to send out bids to the guys we want to see in our frat in the future. And there’s no denying that we want these two to join us because outside of all the stupid pledge stuff and giving them hell they’re both actually cool guys and we want to chill with them.” Gannicus pauses taking the opportunity to sip from his beer before continuing. “Even if Agron had this stupid as fuck shaved head at the time, he looked horrible—“

“Oh fuck you!” Agron shouts, throwing his empty can at Gannicus’ head. The man’s just laughing, prompting the rest of the room to give in to the urge and chuckle along.

“Please tell me there are pictures?” Nasir gasps, just imagining Agron with his head shaved and shining. 

“Oh hell no, if those pictures surface I will personally strangle all of you,” Agron threatens, but Nasir already sees Naevia gesturing at him and winking. Apparently someone’s not afraid of facing Agron’s wrath. Nasir’s sure it will be worth it anyway. 

“Get back to the story already!” Agron groans out, retreating to the fridge for another beer.

“Alright, alright. So, SAE has this long-standing tradition called the Arena—for lack of a better name—where the pledges have to fight gladiator style for their bid. It’s basically held in our backyard where we have a sunken fire pit area about twenty feet across and rows of wooden benches surrounding it on different levels. We give them wooden swords and shields and the point is to get in a ‘kill’ or essentially have your opponent disarmed. The trick is you have to fight someone who’s already in the brotherhood.”

Nasir’s about to speak up and question how that’s exactly fair considering they’re older and stronger, but Gannicus beats him to it, “and before you start thinking it’s unfair, we’re just upholding tradition. The Arena is always held without fail but it’s dissolved into more of a drunken game of sorts. Sure, the guys who can best us in a sword fight ensure that they get bids but that doesn’t mean we don’t consider the others. We’re mostly looking for sportsmanship and the ability to have a good time. The guys who couldn’t handle losing and threw a bitch fit were scratched off the list.” Nasir takes a moment to look around, noticing the fond looks they all have on their faces. The Brotherhood obviously means quite a bit to the lot of them. 

“Regardless, it’s the end of hell week and we’re all anticipating the Arena challenge and deciding who’s going to go up against who. When Sparty gets this great idea to make Crixus and Agron team up and have to fight me and another brother of ours, Oenomaus. We couldn’t have Crixus and Agron constantly at each other’s throats as brothers they have to have each other’s backs or the brotherhood wouldn’t work. And now the Arena can’t come fast enough because everyone’s talking about it. So finally it arrives and our current pres at the time, Batiatus, real ugly shit, announces the match ups for the first round and we’re all just waiting for the final showdown which will hopefully be the most exciting. I honestly can’t remember much of the other guys I was too amped to get down on the sand myself. After waiting what feels like forever, we’re down to the last two, these shit heads, and Batiatus is a public speaker so he hams it up and gets the crowd going and really surprises them when he announces that it’ll be a tag team fight.” Gannicus has got them firmly entranced in the story, even though Nasir knows everyone was either there or has heard it before.

“And don’t forget that Agron still had that fucking walking cast on. At least Crixus could move his arm a bit but it’s fucking sore so it’s just about as useless. But we’re still expecting big things. We all stand in the circle and the two of them won’t even look at each other, grunting when Batiatus calls for the match to begin. They don’t fly into action like some of the others, no they wait a bit, test out the waters and then attack when they see an opening. It’s almost a shock when they both spring at us and I get a sharp whap to the hip and Oenomaus to his shoulder. We weren’t seriously expecting it but they’re actually giving a good show. And despite—I’m sure—their best efforts, they were working together and attacking so that neither of their weak points could be used against them. But it faltered when Oenomaus got in a hit to Crixus’ shoulder and he stumbled essentially tripping Agron on his boot and sending them both sprawling in the dirt. We merely held them at sword point and called the match won. Then in true brotherly fashion they helped each other up and actually shared a moment of pride for each other.” Gannicus only laughs when both Agron and Crixus flip him off rather smoothly.

“However, that night these two got drunk and beat each other up with those stupid wooden swords so now we have to lock them up so that these two fucks don’t decide to cause more harm to each other whenever they differ on opinion.”

“And now you’re part of the brotherhood,” Nasir finishes, smiling when the group nods enthusiastically. “From the sounds of it you two can’t seem to agree on anything.”

“A fact that has never displeased me,” Agron grunts, throwing Crixus a glare. 

“Likewise." 

“Maybe you two are more alike than you think,” Nasir jokes, watching their faces blotch up and sputter as they try to deny even being remotely like the other. He calms them down by punching Agron in the arm and telling them to chill out.

All in all, the night could have gone worse. But it was certainly leagues better than Nasir could have even hoped for. Duro’s come back into the kitchen at some point, too enthralled with talking to some guy named Auctus who’d been sulking in the corner since the beginning of the night. Agron distracts him from further thought of his roommate and asks him if he wants to go outside to the bonfire out back. They’re about to leave, Agron’s hand hot on his wrist when Crixus and Gannicus comes over to challenge Agron to a drinking contest. Somehow, someway, Nasir gets pulled into it as well, not that he’s complaining.

||

When he wakes up his face is pressed into someone’s stomach. He catches himself before he can give into the urge to inhale deeply and nuzzle the warm flesh. A habit that he hasn’t seemed to rid himself of since his last boyfriend. He’s always been big on tactile contact. Whoever it is, they smell amazing, spicy musk with a hint of leather that has Nasir groaning lowly in his throat.

He vaguely remembers more drinking in the form of shots with the brotherhood—which really shouldn’t have happened if how Nasir is feeling now is anything to go by—and then being told that he can’t walk home in his state. Warm hands had led him up the stairs and down a hallway to an inviting looking room. The warm colors and soft bedding called to Nasir immediately and he sunk into the plush bed without a second thought.

Now, in the light of day he tries to remember who exactly steered him to bed. Pulling back he looks up to find Agron’s face only a foot from his own, and thankfully still asleep. He’s got this earnest look to his face that Nasir is sure shouldn’t be there. Weren’t people supposed to relax when they sleep? Instead the man has a furrowed brow and a red flush to his cheeks. Nasir contemplates waking him, decides he can probably stand a few moments longer just watching the man sleep because he’s kind of ridiculously attractive and it had been fucking with Nasir all last night. Waking up this morning finding them drawn together like magnets isn’t something that should have happened but the heat Agron is radiating into him is welcome. As well, the arm thrown carelessly over his waist fills a gap Nasir hadn’t known he’d been missing.

Agron’s company last night was new and refreshing, gone were the demanding boyfriends who controlled him—or tried to, gone were the unrealistic expectations and the disappointments. Nasir had met Agron without any preconceived ideas and found the man incredibly easy to get along with. He hadn’t once pushed Nasir in any way or overrode his opinion on anything. Agron seemed to genuinely care what he thought and respect his opinion for it. 

Nasir wouldn’t mind getting to know Agron a little better if he seemed to share the same initial feelings that had sparked between them. Not to mention how quickly he hit it off with the rest of the Brotherhood. He’d have to thank Duro for introducing him to all his and his brother’s friends, meeting them had made him feel incredibly welcome at the university.

Agron’s eyelashes flutter, and Nasir draws away from the warmth the man offers to better see his face as he wakes up. Unsure as to whether he should pull back more and a little wary of the man’s reaction to waking up curled against him.

“You remember me?” Nasir jokes, poking Agron on the nose when the man’s face shows a little panic.

“Of course, you’re Nasir, my brother’s roommate.” They’re still lying together, Agron’s hand has only slid slightly further up his torso but has remained unmoved since.

“Just checking…” Nasir whispers, eyeslashes fluttering slightly when Agron’s thumb starts rubbing circles into his skin. “You were drinking pretty heavily last night, not sure you’d remember the jaeger bombs you forced on me and Crixus— 

“I made a jaeger bomb for Crixus?! FUCK!” Agron hisses, rolling onto his back and somehow drawing Nasir closer all in one move. “The shit, I never make him drinks.”

“Well it didn’t really require much skill…anyway, apparently when the two of you are drinking you start to like each other better. As long as the shots keep flowing that is,” Nasir teases, poking fingers into Agron’s bare ribs and making him shout with laughter.

“—Would the two of you shut the fuck up? How the hell do you not have hangovers?” A voice sounds from beside them, shocking Nasir enough that he jumps slightly. There’s no mistaking that voice as he rolls over to find Duro currently trying to bury himself under the pillow. Probably hoping that the bed will swallow him whole, but there is no such luck. Nasir doesn’t know how he managed to be unaware of Duro’s presence next to him. He guesses it makes sense that neither of them could make it back to the dorm in the state they were in and that both of them would have to crash somewhere. Nasir should probably thank the gods that Agron has a kingsized bed or they wouldn’t all be able to fit comfortably. 

“We’re obviously the superior drinkers,” Nasir jokes, nudging Duro in the shoulder but only receiving a pained groan in response.

“Just get me some fucking advil you motherfuckers,” is heard grunted into the pillows, causing Nasir to laugh hard enough Duro flings a knee out and shoves both him and Agron off the bed with a thump. “Go awayyyy.” He whines pitifully, only prompting further laughter. Agron is positioned on top of his after the fall and he stays there for a few moments longer than necessary, groin pressed into Nasir’s thigh teasingly. They both look down and back up as if in realization, pupils dilating with sudden arousal. Agron leans down on his hands from where he had been supporting himself, lips mere inches from Nasir’s, breath ghosting over each other’s faces. It’s a tense, charged moment, ruined immediately by Duro rolling over on the bed towards where they have fallen off and peeking over interestedly. “I dunno, but I don’t hear much advil fetching from down there,” he teases, pretending not to notice the way the two of them jump apart rather guiltily.


	2. set it on fire.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir gets talked into helping Duro...and things don't go quite as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT: Some homophobic slurs are mentioned in this chapter by asshole drunk frat boys, if that bothers you don't read!
> 
> Some explanations in the end notes, hopefully they answer any questions.
> 
> PLEASE READ:
> 
> The first two chapters of this story have been edited and slightly re-written. New scenes have been added as well as dialog and has been edited for readability and flow.

Nasir’s honestly not seeking him out. It’s practically impossible to just randomly run into someone on such a big campus. Except Nasir totally does, he runs into him at his favorite coffee shop, on his way to his Friday lecture, and most importantly, Nasir runs into him in his own dorm room. The brother apparently tends to drop by quite a bit to check on his baby bro. Mostly to try and talk Duro out of rushing his fraternity, and then contradicting himself and telling him that theirs is the best fraternity and that he’d be an idiot to rush anywhere else. It’s one of those days today, that Nasir finds himself fielding brotherly hostility as Duro tells Agron to fuck off and the older brother looks like he’s about to wrap him in a headlock. However, the near daily argument ends this time with Duro slamming the front door as he leaves for his next class. 

Nasir had been trying to study for the past hour, when Agron showed up unannounced and immediately laid into Duro once again. Since rush week was fast approaching Agron had been coming over more and more to make sure that his point was honed in. Duro wasn’t having any of it however. Their arguments always manage to keep Nasir’s mind away from studying, and constantly straying towards the two men having a shouting match in their kitchen. Now that the dorm had lapsed into silence, Nasir thinks he can get back to studying, however, Agron seems to have different ideas.

“Can you please talk some sense into him?” Agron pleads, collapsing onto Duro’s bed with a heavy sigh. Nasir stretches lightly, rolling the chair at his desk around with a huff.

“Why are you so against him rushing anyway? The Brotherhood is an awesome group of guys and you all seem to care a lot for each other. Like you keep saying, Duro would be an idiot to rush anywhere else. Besides, it’s technically his legacy, what with you being there an all. I don’t see why you’re so against it.” Nasir had been wondering that for the past few weeks. Honestly, at first Nasir just thought Agron was trying to give his brother a hard time, but when it continued he realized that Agron was actually trying to talk him out of it. 

Agron sputters, grabbing at singular words before falling silent for a moment, “—I guess, I’m worried. I can’t treat him specially because he’s my brother, and he’s gotta prove himself or he’s not gonna get a bid and what—“

“Oh my god, you’re worried about him getting in,” Nasir grunts, pushing his roll-y chair over so that it’s resting in front of Agron, “Agron, Duro’s your brother, and he’s awesome as hell. I’d really stop worrying so much about him getting in and a little more about school. Do you even go to class?” Nasir chastises. Agron seemed to come over whenever and stay for increasingly long periods of time. It makes Nasir wonder when his classes even are because he hadn’t once seen the man with a backpack.

Agron tries to brain him with a pillow but Nasir spins out of the way with a snort, “now _some_ people need to study…” pointedly looking at Agron’s prone form. The man mimes zipping his lips and then lies back with an overindulgent sigh. “You’re not actually about to take a nap are you?” Nasir deadpans, throwing a look over his shoulder at Agron.

The man doesn’t respond, just snorts and closes his eyes. And true to form, Agron actually falls asleep on Duro’s bed and leaves Nasir to his studying.

||

“Dude, where have you been?” Nasir asks while shoving a half empty pizza box towards his roommate. He hasn’t seen him since yesterday afternoon and it’s now lunchtime.

Duro collapses on his bed, releasing probably the heaviest sigh known to man, “rush week. Drinking. Had to walk back from Grove County. Ugh.” The one word sentences aren’t as detailed as Nasir would like them to be, but he can fill in the blanks as best he can. 

“Fuck, they dropped you off in Grove County and you had to find your own way back?” At Duro’s nod, Nasir whistles lowly. “That’s dedication, I would have just fallen asleep on a sidewalk somewhere.”

“I diddddd.” Duro grumbles, rolling over so that his face isn’t smothered in his pillow. “I would have been back earlier this morning but I stopped to rest on a park bench and woke up there hours later with some old woman covering me in bird seed. Fucking pigeons were following me for miles!”

Nasir can’t help himself, he nearly falls off his bed from laughing, the image of pigeons swooping down to attack a tired and drunken Duro is just too good an image. 

“Fuck you!” Duro grunts, pulling his pillow over his face in an attempt to block out the sunlight streaming in through the windows, “you try navigating while drunk.”

“Oh I’ve tried, never again.”

“Feel my painnnn, stop being so meannn,” Duro’s turning into a child as he whines from across the room.

“I am totally telling Agron about the pigeons, he’ll piss himself laughing,” the reaction is immediate. Duro sits up quickly—slight flash of green and nauseated look not withstanding—and lobs a pillow at Nasir.

“Don’t you dare,” he grits out heavily, eyes squinted menacingly, but then again it’s Duro and it’s incredibly hard to ever take him seriously.

“Oh I dare,” Nasir teases, nonchalantly leaning back.

“Name your price, anything so that you won’t tell him,” ah, so apparently Duro’s moved on to bargaining.

“Hmm,” Nasir makes a show of thinking, taking his time flipping through his history book, fluffing his pillow,”—nope. Agron has to know about this.” The disgruntled look on Duro’s face tells him everything he needs to know.

“Asshole.”

“Fucker you love me.”

“Not even, I hate you, you’re the worst roommate, I thought you had my back?” Duro whines, trying to use his puppy dog eyes to his advantage.

“I’m helping you to learn humility, it’s a good life lesson, laughing at yourself that is…or I guess, having other people laugh at you.”

Duro glares for a second, before giving a resigned huff, “—anyway, you wanna come to a party with me tonight? Gotta sneak into a rival fraternity’s house and steal something.” Nasir nods, assuming that the task has something to do with rush week and that he shouldn’t question it.

“Yeah sure, do I at least get to drink a bit?” Nasir teases.

“You can drink all you want _after_ we make it out.”

|| 

“Shit, we’re guys, we need to know someone in the fraternity to get let in,” Duro hisses, standing back behind a line of cars so that the bouncer can’t see them. 

“What fraternity are we at again?” Nasir asks for probably the third time, Duro kept rambling off all these different frat names and for someone who isn’t in the greek life it’s hard to keep track of who is who.

“Chi phi, they’re our enemy. Agron wouldn’t tell me why but—“

“Oh, I think I know a guy in the frat. He’s my TA in my calculus class, and was seriously flirting with me. We could give it a shot?” Nasir suggests, already pulling out his phone and shooting a text off to the guy.

“Oh, he a potential?” Duro questions, actually turning his attention away from the front of the party to get a better look at Nasir.

“I guess,” Nasir shrugs, “I’m not so hot for him that I won’t use him to get you inside so you can steal something.” He elbows Duro, cracking a grin when the man makes kissy faces at him. His phone buzzes in his hand and he grins, “looks like I’ve got our in, he said he’d meet us at the door.”

They wait a few seconds and then jog across the street. True to word Nasir sees his TA talking to the bouncer. “Nasir, I was surprised when I got your text, but I can’t say I was disappointed, the opposite in fact.”

“I’m not gonna lie, it’s interesting seeing you outside of the lecture hall Castus,” Nasir accepts the hug the man gives him. It borders on slightly too long but Nasir lets it go in favor of getting them into the party.

“I had been planning on inviting you to the party tonight, I’m glad you asked instead,” Castus pulls Nasir through the door and Duro follows after, giving the bouncer a smug grin. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, this is Duro, he’s my roommate,” Castus is looking at Duro closer, eyes squinting like he’s trying to remember something and—shit, Nasir realizes that Castus could very well know Agron and then this whole thing could seem really suspicious, “I’m glad I came, I really wanted to party tonight. Wanna show me to the drinks?” That gets Castus’ attention; his eyes nearly ricochet back to him at lightening speed.

“Right this way man,” Castus leads the way into the house and Nasir throws a look over his shoulder at Duro. The man’s looking around like he’s trying to decide what to steal. Nasir just hopes he’ll decide soon, Duro made him promise that he can’t party until they complete this mission. Castus gets them to the bar and grabs Nasir a drink, completely ignoring Duro, which is good. When Nasir glances behind him the man is gone and Nasir hopes that means he’s decided what he’s going to steal so that they can get the hell out of here.

Castus is giving him a weird look because he hasn’t taken a sip of his drink yet, Nasir grins lightly and then swallows a mouthful, “awesome party,” he compliments.

“Thanks, we like to go all out, especially for rush week,” Castus gestures towards their surroundings. Nasir notices that everyone seems to be dressed up for a luau, leis and all.

“Oops, guess I didn’t get the memo for the theme,” Nasir gestures down at his own jeans and t-shirt. He’d really only been planning on going to the party the Brotherhood was throwing which was a free for all tonight. 

“You look fine to me,” and there was that flirting tone again, his eyes obviously raking him over. Nasir had purposefully worn a tight shirt and some well fitting jeans but they have been more for Agron’s benefit because Nasir had taken up the pastime of trying to drive him crazy. For some reason the big lug hadn’t made any sort of move since that first morning after the party. At least he is finding out the outfit works on other gay men.

“You don’t look so bad yourself, “ Nasir replies, winking. Castus looks good enough to eat; crappy Hawaiian shirt unbuttoned to a bare torso and some board shorts. His chest gleams in the strobe lights like he greased himself with sunscreen or oil. Nasir can’t deny that Castus is an attractive man.

“You wanna dance?” Castus practically purrs, and Nasir wishes he could ask him how he does that. Especially over the music and the laughing, but Nasir finds himself swept onto the dance floor where a mass amount of people are grinding to the latest rap hits. Nasir lets loose a bit, giving in to the sway of the crowd, ignoring the hands that have deposited themselves on his hips and preferring to just go with the music. Before he realizes it he’s gone through a few drinks and he’s definitely not sober anymore but he has a long way to go before he’s black out drunk. So much for his promise to Duro, but the man’s utterly disappeared and Nasir hasn’t seen hide nor hair of him since.

“I’m gonna go get another drink, you want one?” Nasir questions, laughing when he accidentally stumbles into two equally drunk girls. He actually gets distracted talking to them, and he’s pretty sure one of them slipped her number into his jeans…but that’s negligible. When he turns around Castus is looking at him with an amused grin.

“You’re quite popular with the ladies.”

“Mm, too bad I like dick eh?” Nasir snorts and wanders off to the bar, sloshing his cup around when he tries to get a refill of rum and coke.

“There you are jesus—“ Duro whips him around, frowning when he notices Nasir’s partially glassy eyes and swaying form, “I thought we agreed on no partying until we got the hell out of here?”

“Well I was distracting Castus, what did you want me to do, look suspicious and lame…mostly lame?” Nasir grunts, turning to grab his newly refreshed rum and coke and take a sip.

“Stop that, come on, we gotta leave. _Now_.” Duro starts pulling him towards the exit, and Nasir manages to get a hand on his drink before being swept through the crowd by his anxious friend. His eyes sweep the area until they land on Castus who is watching him with a confused expression. Nasir’s not quite sure why they have to rush out of there, but then again Duro _is_ trying to steal something sooo. Nasir shrugs, motioning to his phone that he’ll text him. Or at least he hopes that’s what he conveys because in the next second Duro’s pulling him towards the front door. Whatever, he’ll see Castus in class, it’s probably not the most appropriate thing to let you TA have a crush on you. Probably better than the alternative of him hating your guts Nasir guesses.

Because Nasir’s looking behind him they slam into a group of guys and Nasir spills his drink, much to his chagrin. He did just get it refilled after all. He’s too busy wiping the slosh off his hand that he doesn’t see the guy move to angrily shove him back. “What the fuck dude?” Nasir hisses, looking up angrily at the large asshole who pushed him.

“Watch where you’re fucking going punk,” the dude growls, wiping his shirt where the alcohol wet spot is. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t be standing in the hallway like a huge fucking brick wall, ever thought of that?” Nasir’s getting back up in the guy’s face and he may be short but he knows how to stand his ground. Duro’s trying to pull him away but then another guy is grabbing his arm to spin him around.

“Hey aren’t you a Sig Alpha pledge, Agron’s little bro?”

 _Oh shit._ Nasir backs away, pulling Duro out of the man’s grasp so that there’s some space between them. Of course they would run into someone that has a personal vendetta against Agron and Agron’s family. How else could they recognize his little brother.

“I don’t see how that’s any of your fucking business asshole,” Duro shouts, baring his teeth like he’s about to do something crazy and Nasir can only imagine. _Fucking hell,_ he thinks, already preparing himself to take the larger guy he had spilled his drink on. He’s got this sandy blonde hair that’s rather shaggy compared to his two companions whose hair is close cropped like soldiers.

“Your pussy brotherhood not throwing any good parties anymore? Have to mooch off of others?” The one guys taunts, getting a few back pats from his fellow Chi Phi’s.

“Fuck you, we just came to see how lame this party was and guess what we weren’t disappointed, there’s more dudes here than an all boy’s boarding school. Weak dude weak.”

Nasir rolls his eyes because Duro really doesn’t need to antagonize them more. Besides, Nasir would love to be stuck in an all boy’s boarding school. It’d be like paradise.

“What, we thought you Sig AE’s would love all these guys? Don’t you all take it up the butt? You faggots better run along before we beat the shit out of you,” and Nasir can literally see the moment Duro’s composure breaks. Nasir’s ready to cream someone at this point too. These assholes deserve it. Only Nasir can talk about his love of dicks and all things related.

Duro launches himself at the asshole speaking and gets a solid punch to his jaw. Nasir focuses back on the big guy in front of him and hisses happily. Just because he’s small doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how to fight. He physically throws himself on the dude, getting a good punch in to the guy’s eye and knocking him into the wall. Their buddies are trying to pull them off and get in their own hits but the two of them are pretty good at dodging drunken frat boys. A fist clips him on the eye but Nasir steps out of the swing and grins rather menacingly. Nasir jumps on one of their backs and sends the guy careening into a table filled with empty solo cups. The table breaks under his weight and everything flies across the floor in all directions. A kick to his ribs knocks Nasir back and he slides across the front hallway floor with a groan. Every time he breathes now it burns like someone is twisting a knife in his side. Duro’s nose is bleeding from a punch to the face and his shirt is ripped at the collar where one of the guys tried to grab him.

“Duro, come on man, we gotta go,” Nasir shouts, waving towards the front door. They certainly can’t keep fighting a bunch of dudes on their own. Duro nods, throwing in one more kick before he sprints towards the door and throws it open. Nasir leans down to the guy who’d called them a bunch of faggots and spits a bloody mouthful on his chest.

“I wouldn’t want to tell anyone about this if I were you, getting beat up by a queer and a Sig AE. Wouldn’t do much for the rep now would it?” And with that Nasir races out the door before they can collect themselves. When he gets out the front door it’s pretty dark and he can’t see Duro anywhere. There’s a rustling from the bushes beside the house and Nasir jumps slightly, expecting more Chi Phi brothers, but it’s just Duro hefting something large.

“Come on Nas, let’s get the hell out of here,” Nasir doesn’t question him, just runs off across the street so that they’re further away from the frat house.

Chances are the Chi Phi boys won’t remember much of it tomorrow anyway.

They pause to lean against a brick building several houses away, to catch their breath, when Nasir starts laughing hysterically.

“Oh my god, did we just get in a fight with another fraternity? Did you even steal anything?” Nasir gets out between fits of laughter, “I seriously hope I didn’t get my ass kicked for nothing.”

Duro’s laughing too, he laughs even harder when he holds up what he’d been carrying the whole time, “oh it was definitely worth it.” Nasir freezes, eyes going over the large wooden “X” in his best friend’s hands.

“You did not just steal the Chi out of the Chi Phi’s house letters, how did you even get that? They were mounted on the side of the house.” Nasir touches it just to make sure he’s not dreaming.

“When I disappeared I snuck upstairs and one of the windows opens right next to it, I just pried it off the wall and then dropped it into the bushes. That’s when I came to get you.” Duro’s grin is infectious; they start laughing again because they can’t help it. It’s pretty funny.

“Come on, let’s go party,” Nasir wraps an arm around Duro’s shoulders and leads him in the direction of the SAE house with pride.

|| 

Donar’s playing bouncer at the door, his eyebrows rise when he gets a good look at the two of them. Nasir’s eye must be swollen, and Duro’s nose hasn’t stopped leaking blood, it also might be broken but they’re not sure.

“What the fuck did you two shits get into?”

“Chi Phi,” Duro brandishes the X and gets Donar’s hearty laughter.

“You little fuckers, that’s going to be quite a story I assume?” The man ushers them in, laughing when he pats Nasir on the back and the man winces. Everything seems to be connected to his ribs now. The adrenaline’s worn off and he’s starting to ache.

Duro’s pulling him into the house, through the throngs of partiers and towards the back living room that houses the bar and the beer pong table. Naevia sees them first, getting up quickly from the couch where her and Crixus had been wrapped together.

“Shit, Nasir are you okay?” She coos, lightly taking his chin so that she can turn his face towards the light. “You want some ice?”

“I could use another drink, everything’s starting to hurt,” he jokes, gets a punch to the chest from Naevia and winces immediately. 

“Oh, shit sorry, your ribs are bruised too?” Nasir nods. “Duro what did you do?” She accuses, turning to the man who’s currently wiping his bloody nose with a napkin he found. 

“How is this automatically my fault?” Duro questions, rolling his eyes when Naevia just continues to give him the look. “Alright alright, this is kinda my fault, but also your boyfriend and his friend’s fault as well. I was just completing my orders.” He brandishes the X, which makes Naevia’s eyes widen before a smug grin graces her face.

“You mother fuckers stole a greek letter from Chi Phi? Crassus and Caesar are not going to be happy about that.” Naevia nudges Crixus who is involved in talking with Spartacus. When they look up their expressions go from mildly shocked, to amused, to shocked again.

“That’s not what I think it is, is it?” Crixus voices lowly, his eyes bouncing between the two of them and the X in their hands.

“Yep, Chi Phi’s greek letter right off the side of their fucking house,” Duro’s practically fucking beaming and Nasir’s proud of him. Even if they had to get beaten up, it was worth it. Naevia nudges him softly, holding out a cup of liquor and Nasir doesn’t even care what it is, he could use the numbing.

“Please tell me the other guys look worse?” Spartacus grins, drawing both Duro and Nasir into a one armed hug.

“Of course, Nasir here’s a fucking demon, he jumped this one guy and beat the shit out of him and it was totally awesome. If we hadn’t been so outnumbered we would have totally demolished them—“

“What the fuck, are you okay?” Nasir and Duro spin to see Agron stalking towards them, eyes worriedly bouncing between their faces, in what Nasir is sure is a grimy picture. So much for showing off in his tight clothes, now he just looks bruised and bloody.

“We’re fine,” Nasir assures him, taking another sip of his drink. Duro’s nodding his agreement but still allows his big bro to test his nose and see if it’s actually broken. It isn’t, thankfully. 

“You assholes, that was so fucking stupid,” Agron chastises, much to the amusement of his fellow brothers. He moves on to Nasir’s face, turning it towards the light so that he can have a better look at Nasir’s already swelling eye.

“What are you, a mother hen now?” Crixus teases, drawing Naevia back into his lap. “Those Chi Phi assholes deserved it." 

“Oh yeah, they were being homophobic as shit,” Duro growls, glancing towards Agron who’s looking more mollified that they didn’t just go out looking to start something.

“And they were talking shit about the Brotherhood,” Nasir speaks up, shrugging lightly, “we couldn’t just let that stand.”

Agron takes one more look at their faces, then at the Chi greek letter and shakes his head, a grin he obviously tries to hide, covering his face. “Let me get you shitheads some ice,” when he comes back he has three ice packs, one for Duro’s nose, and then one for Nasir’s eye and the last for his ribs. Agron gently presses the ice pack to Nasir’s eye, grimacing when the smaller man winces visibly.

Nasir tries to laugh but Agron’s holding his jaw still, “I mean it’s not so bad, I just bruise easy is all.” Agron just gives him a look; thumb swiping gently over his lips and lower cheek.

||

The party is long over, there are still passed out people strewn around the house but they’ll be taken care of later. The Brotherhood and its potential pledges are assembled in the backyard. Nasir’s there…but he assumes he’s part of the Brotherhood’s cheerleaders, much like Naevia, Sura, and some of the other’s significant others. Besides, he deserves to be here for this, he got beat up in the process of stealing it after all.

Spartacus and the boys have lit a gigantic bonfire over ten feet tall in their fire pit out back. They’re on the sands around the ‘Arena’ or so it’s called. It’s eerie really, it’s still dark out but the sun is beginning to peek out from over the tree line. It feels almost like a ritual of sorts.

“As you know your task for tonight was to steal something from a rival fraternity. Duro took it above and beyond and stole from our number one rival, Chi Phi, and took one of their Greek letters right off the side of their house. They ran into some trouble and Chi Phi proved once again to be homophobic assholes. It reminded me of why we started this chapter, we stand here as a family. We don’t discriminate, we don’t hate, we accept all. We may joke about having certain criteria but that’s just that, they’re just jokes. To anyone who has ever felt rejected or outcast for any reason, SAE is here for you. Should all of you become one of our brothers, we will always have your back. We’re brothers until the end. You will always have a place here, a place to be yourself and never be judged for it.” Spartacus pauses, stepping to the side to gesture towards the fire, “burning this letter signifies the birth of Sig AE. Through these fires brothers are born, the bonds of family are struck. Like the brothers before you, should you become a part of this fraternity you will always have a place here. Duro, if you’ll do the honors.”

Nasir looks around at the assembled group; the current Brothers are on the far side of the fire making a dense half circle while the pledges complete the circle on the other side. Nasir stands off to the side with Naevia, Sura, and Saxa. He looks towards Agron, pleased when the older brother looks so proud of his little bro. Duro steps forward and throws the letter into the fire where it immediately catches and starts disintegrating to ashes among the other timbers. Spartacus starts chanting, “SIG A E SIG A E SIG A E SIG A E,” and the rest of the assembled pick up the chant, Nasir even finds himself shouting at the top of his lungs. The sun continues to rise but Nasir’s never felt more exhilarated. Naevia clutches his elbow, her voice just as loud as his. Saxa’s nearly going ballistic as she shouts loud enough to be heard singularly over the group.

The chant morphs suddenly, a chorus of voices changing to the words, “the brotherhood, brotherhood, brotherhood, to the brotherhood.” Nasir turns his eyes back to Agron and finds the man looking at him, passionate fire reflecting in his eyes as he chants for his fraternity.

And sure it’s fueled by alcohol and they wouldn’t have gotten in this mess if Duro didn’t have to steal something from a rival fraternity but it’s not really about that. It’s about coming together, about a support system and knowing that these people will always have their backs. It’s about belonging.

Nasir doesn’t officially belong to the fraternity and he probably never will because he doesn’t plan on rushing but he knows they’ve accepted him. If the round of raucous cheering and the friendly hugs he’s pulled into afterwards are anything to go by. Agron’s the last one to pull him into a hug, staying for much longer than necessary, but Nasir just pulls him closer, smiling into his chest. And he’s probably screwed, it’s only been a few weeks and he hasn’t been able to let go of these stupid feelings he has for Agron, but screw it. Sometimes having a crush is the best feeling in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know anything about Chi Phi or Sigma Alpha Epsilon, I'm a girl so I can't join a fraternity. Take everything with a grain of salt, it's pretty much all made up. And I don't mean anything bad against Chi Phi, I just picked a random fraternity. I'm basically using my experiences from fraternity parties so yeah.
> 
> Chi Phi has two greek letters that make up it's name, the Chi part is represented by a greek letter that looks like an X.
> 
> Comments and kudos are much appreciated!


End file.
